Ignorance is bliss
by Dame Loli
Summary: It all started with a nightly pursuit, but now Pepper feared that Obadiah Stane and Mr Fix were getting way to close to the original. There was only one man in iron and it had to be Tony.


IGNORANCE IS BLISS

There was only one thought on her mind as she blindly ran in the city. Her cell phone tightly in her hand, she could only desperately listen to the constant ringing of the line while she prayed for her friends to answer.

She suddenly plunged to the right as a beaming laser hit her previous spot. Why the fuck was Tony, in his Iron man suit, pursuing her. It wasn't exactly how she dreamed he would answer her feelings. Okay, sure it would be easier if she had already confessed; but for a genius he sure was stupid.

He could create nanotechnology powered up by nuclear atoms, but couldn't even tell when one girl loved him or even worse when two were fighting for him. Really, he should be able to upload his social skills as he did for his armour which was currently coming closer.

She sneaked a peek over a shoulder and skidded to a stop when she didn't see anything. She let a sight of relief and exasperation. She would so beat them up next time she saw them, to laugh at her expanse like that. Her frantic heart slowed down, but that was until a hand landed on her shoulder.

Without thinking, she grabbed the limb, and as she had been taught in her self-defence class her father had imposed her to take after the Mr Fix episode she twisted it making the masked man fell ungracefully on the ground before her. The groan of pain surprised her; it wasn't the voice she was accustomed from her friend.

"Who are you?"

"Doesn't my suit give it away?"

"Real funny! But shouldn't Iron man be more preoccupied chasing after super villains than a mere teenage girl?"

"Only when they are as interesting as you!"

That solved one problem; it definitively wasn't her friend. Tony may be a cocky smartass, but he couldn't woo a girl even if his life depended on it.

She took a stepped back as he slowly got up, one hand reaching in her bag to find some kind of weapon. She grasped the first thing she got a hold on.

"Don't come near me, I have a …" her eyes widened at the uselessness of her object " pen and I won't hesitate to use it."

His laugh made her gritted her teeth. Maybe she should start to listen to her father and bring pepper spray. Yeah, like that could work with his mask on. Wait, what was that little spot on the right temple? Upon closer observation she realised it was the emblem of Stark Industry. They had replicated the armour?

"No need for that, Patricia AKA Pepper Potts. I only want to ask you something."

"How do you know who I am?"

"Did you know you were observed from afar by one of those "super villains", a certain Mr Fix" he quoted. He pursued as she stayed silent. "I need your father's files on him."

Pepper didn't consider herself as the bravest girl around, but as she was learning in her martial art class she took for her future application to S.H.I.E.L.D., the time had come for her to fend for herself. Her eyes narrowed as she analyse the situation.

She wouldn't be able to outrun who ever was hiding in that suit which with each glance she threw at it seemed more and more like a grotesque prototype. The shoulder part wasn't correctly fixed with the pectorals', the central repulsor was cracked; that's were she decided to strike.

She stabbed her pen in the small orifice. The glass completely broke, sparks cackling all around her hand. They stayed a moment like that, until the electronic device exploded, sending them both in opposite directions.

As electricity run through her body and her head impact solidly with the ground, the red-head cursed her own stupidity. Well, that was until the other victim criticized her to.

"Are you crazy? You could have killed us both! What's your problem?"

"My problem is Iron man wannabe first asking me classified information that the real Iron should know, because he did fight against Mr Fix, second wearing a Stark prototype of the real armour."

"How did you…"

"Your costume is falling apart genius." At the same moment, the mask opened suddenly at the dismay of his wearer. Conclusion, no Tony, no Rhodey and no happy Pepper.

The guy in the outfit couldn't be older than her, with blond slicked back hair and brown eyes. A blush of embarrassment flushed his cheeks. "Wasn't exactly like how I had envisioned my first night out in this."

She snorted. "You tell me."

He slowly and precariously stood up and extracted the pen. He took wobbly steps towards the girl still on the ground. As he handed back her tool, he realised she was slightly hurt. Her head must have connected with the floor because she was lightly bleeding.

"Here, you should clean your wound." He gave her a tissue. "Thanks, I guess."

"Hum, well, until next time." Thus he prepared to flight away but he hadn't flow over more than five meters that he crashed down, his armour broken beyond repair for the night. "Stupid." Thought Pepper.

-x-x-x-

She silently entered her home, fearing the wrath of her father if he discovered she was back way after her curfew. However, she soon realised he wasn't home and after deducing he was most likely on an affair, she gladly made her way to the medical stash. Pain killers were required as her head throbbed as if a stampede of horses were racing.

She groaned when she realised they weren't there. She looking around and stopped them on the kitchen counter. She gulped two without water and nearly jumped in her bed. She was spent.

As she drifted off to sleep, she made a mental note to tell Tony and Rhodey that Stark inc. had created an Iron man's prototype.

-x-x-x-

Pepper's head was currently laying on her books in her lockers. She hadn't had much sleep and she had to use copious amount of make up to hide the darkness under her eyes.

"What are you doing Pepper?" Her head jerked up hitting the top of her locker. She turned around, staring at her friends.

"Hi guys!"

"Don't worry, you will do great on the physic test."

"Test? What test? It's today? You gotta be kidding? It can't be today because there was this guy yesterday believing he was fancy in his flying suit, but he was a real jerk and didn't want to leave me alone, chasing me all around town for nothing… And I was minding my own business at first, but there he was, lunging at me like some kind of modern Neanderthal and complete ruined my night and my favourite skirt by the way. And you two wouldn't answer your phone… "

"Whoa, less words!"

"Can't, got to study." She screamed running down the corridor as the first bell rang, hopping to catch at least two minutes of revising.

She flunked on a chair, her bag landing somewhere at her feet and apposed her hands on her science text book. However, when she opened it, she was shocked to realize that all the pages were blank. Then she felt like the information contained at first in her manual was being printed in her head. She had sucked it in by her hand. Was that even possible?

To make sure she wasn't having stress related hallucinations, she grabbed the next play they were supposed to perform in drama class and was surprise as the same result happen. Her brain was acting like a sponge, absorbing knowledge.

She felt perfect grades and killer headaches coming her way.

TBC…

There it is, my first Iron Man: Armored adventures fic. So tell me what you think and maybe it will make me update faster.

Dame Loli


End file.
